A Slytherin Rosetta Stone
by The Milk of Human Kindness
Summary: When Harry's paranoia gets the best of him, Hermione accidentally gains access to Pansy Parkinson's diary.
1. The Slytherin Rosetta Stone

Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me

Summary: Thanks to Harry's paranoia, Hermione gains access to Pansy's diary, and finds out some unexpected things...femmeslash related, obviously.

A/N: Okay, bear with me. It takes a while...like 2000 words or so, before we get to much Pansy/Hermione femmeslashy goodness, and even then it's only a tease. Sorry! I just wanted a substantial plot setup. I swear that the next chapters will be full of femmeslash, angst, witty banter, crazy plot hijinks, time travel, long-lost siblings returning from the dead and a crossover with 'Murder She Wrote'. Okay, well maybe not ALL of those. :-)

* * *

Harry burst into my room, yelling, while I was in the middle of my Potions homework, causing me to spit out my tea all over my blouse and nearly scaring me to death. He was babbling about Malfoy again, which was pretty typical---but he was so agitated and gripped my arm so tightly that I could tell this time he would insist on action.

It was something about the Room of Requirement, a portal for Death Eaters to get into Hogwarts, Draco behind it all…..honestly I was more concerned with the Earl Grey seeping into my top. Harry, though a great guy, is completely paranoid. I couldn't exactly blame him, but his suspicions were rarely correct. In fact, there was a time when he was completely convinced that Hagrid, of all peopl---

"HERMIONE!"

Oh yes, back to Harry.

Harry released his vise grip on my arm and tried to catch his breath.

"Hermione," he began again, slower, "Draco's up to something, I know he is."

"Harry, but last tim--"

"He's up to something, dammit!" Harry nearly shouted. "I've never seen him this worried, he's constantly going to the Room of Requirement, sending messaging owls, he mutters to himself, he….he….I know he's up to something!"

Well, this was a declaration I'd heard plenty of times. I took hold of his hand.

"Harry…" I spoke in soothing tones.

"Yes?" I could see relief start to form in his eyes.

"Boys aren't allowed in the Girls Dormitory."

* * *

Later, in the common room, after Harry had resumed speaking to me, he described the situation.

"Okay, tonight when I was spying on Draco, I saw him send off five messenger owls," before adding for emphasis, "_FIVE._"

Ron, who had been half-heartedly feigning interest up to that point, perked up.

"Malfoy has FIVE owls? That's more than my entire family….in fact, Charlie's entire office in Romania only has _four_ owls, and there's over fifty…" Ron trailed off as the irritation became obvious in Harry's face.

"Now, if I could just read what he was writing in these letters…, but he writes with charmed ink, so it's invisible to me."

"So what exactly is your plan?"

Harry hesitated a bit.

"Well, is there anyway we can read charmed ink? Like, some sort of vision spell?"

Uh oh. I hated to burst Harry's bubble, but…

"Harry, charmed ink can only be read by the person who charmed it, not even Dumbledore has a spell that can change that."

Harry looked exasperated.

"I've got to know what he's writing Hermione!"

I had no reply, and we sat there for a moment in silence before Harry suddenly perked up.

"I KNOW! I can switch out the original ink in his pen with some ink we charm ourselves, and then…uhhh….intercept his owls….somehow…maybe…" Harry's face had quickly changed from excitement to resignation as he realized the difficulties of his plan.

A few more moments passed in silence, and I was ready to declare this endeavor impossible, when Ron, who had been busy reading the Quidditch report, looked up.

"Well, if the ink is invisible, why don't you try using mutus paper?"

"Mutus paper?"

"Yeah, you guys have never heard of it? The ministry used it all the time during the war...it's for quick and quiet communication. It's a special type of paper, you magically link two pieces together and when you write on one piece of paper, the words also appear on another pad. That's how my dad used to receive his orders during the war."

Harry leapt up.

"So, if we can switch out the paper in Malfoy's notebook with mutus paper, then we can read what he writes, even if the ink is charmed?"

"Yep, the mutus paper traces the movement of the pen, not the ink."

This actually sounded promising.

"We've still got loads of it at home, I'll ask Bill to send some tomorrow."

"And then I can use my cloak and replace Malfoy's notebook with mutus paper when he's not looking!" Harry spoke triumphantly, tracing the steps in his mind to his triumph. "And then we'll be able to read what he's writing!" He then looked at me warily, as if expecting me to torpedo the plan.

I smiled.

"Well boys, looks like you've come up with quite a plan."

* * *

Harry had a pad of mutus paper under his arm and his invisibility cloak slung over his shoulders.

"Okay, wish me luck."

Ron handed him the shrieking mouse ball, a present from Fred and George's shop.

"So remember Harry, set this off on the staircase or something, it should cause more than enough distraction for you to switch the paper. It's Fred's latest invention."

I handed him the Marauder's Map and then hugged him.

"Good luck Harry."

He nodded, and then disappeared with a sweep.

Ron and I sat down in the commons room and tried to keep ourselves occupied. I was halfway through my DFAD homework, and I suspect Ron was halfway through another issue of Quidditch Weekly, when Harry burst through the door.

He was beaming. And panting.

"Shrieking….mouse………just brilliant."

"So did you put the mutus paper in Malfoy's notebook?"

"It was easier than I could have imagined. They were all gathered around the Commons room listening to Draco brag about something or other, and when I set it off there was immediate chaos."

I had to laugh at the mental picture.

"The girls took off screaming back into their dorm, and so did most of the boys. Draco, the git tried to appear like he wasn't scared, but after about five seconds he took off running too. All their notebooks were left right on the table in front of the fireplace. It was too easy," he smiled as he collapsed onto the couch.

He reached into his own bag and brought out a notebook.

"The mutus paper I put in Draco's notebook is linked to this paper. When he writes his letters tonight, we'll be able to read them." Harry placed the open book on the table, and we all stared at the blank pages, wondering what sort of nefarious insight would be revealed.

Thirty minutes later, the pages were still blank. Harry looked more than a little perturbed.

"Harry, he might have already sent off his owls _before _you switched the paper. Or maybe that shrieking mouse threw him off his schedule," I said, trying to reassure him.

Ron chimed in.

"Yeah, we tested the mutus paper earlier today, and so we know it works. He's probably still recovering from your prank and forgot about writing the letters."

Harry nodded slightly.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Let's go to bed and see if there's anything there in the morning."

* * *

Piqued by curiosity, I quickly showered in the morning and bounded down to the Great Hall for breakfast. It was immediately apparent that there wasn't good news waiting for me. Harry had his head buried in his hands, groaning. The mutus book was on the table, and Ron was trying to console him.

"It's okay Harry, we have more of that paper, we can try it again tonight."

Ron saw me standing above them and motioned with his head towards Harry, and started to explain.

"So it turns out that, well…"

He paused for a second, while Harry groaned. Ron grabbed the book and tossed it to me.

"See for yourself."

I opened the book to the first page, and the problem was evident.

Girly handwriting, cursive with big loops and hearts dotted over the I's. Harry must have put the paper in the wrong notebook. This looked like a diary, not a series of owl messages.

Harry looked up and sighed.

"All the notebooks and bags were scattered on the table…I must have….I must have picked the wrong one."

Ron chimed in.

"It's not a total loss though. We may not have gotten Draco, but at least we got his snotty girlfriend's diary."

I looked down at the book. Wow, Pansy Parkinson! This would be good for amusement, at the very least.

_-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _

_November 20th_

_WHAT A HORRIBLE DAY!_

_SOME IDIOT (PROBABLY A FIRST YEAR) SET OFF SOME PRANK IN THE COMMON ROOM TONIGHT. UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! _

_And to make things worse, Millicent was so scared that she cried for half an hour. I swear, if she's not crying over a boy or a bad grade, she's out there searching for things to cry for. The girl needs help. I have to remember to ask my mom to send me some gryffon-hair earplugs next time I write home. Millicent's snoring is unbearable as well. I'm considering sleeping in the Commons Room._

_On the positive side, I received high marks on my Dark Arts exam, and Herbology as well---though that's hardly an accomplishment. I need to improve in Potions, but it's hard to pay attention (for obvious reasons) and it's just impossible to study in my room that is always either drowned in Millicent's sobbing or snoring!_

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I had to laugh, as the entry was pretty much exactly what I would have expected from Pansy: self-centered, vicious and whiny. I also noted how she called Defense Against the Dark Arts class "Dark Arts", as if THAT was what she was learning. And who knew that Pansy disliked Millicent so much? They always seemed so chummy chummy to me.

Ron grinned. "Seamus overheard Draco complaining about the snoring too."

It suddenly hit me. We essentially had access to Pansy Parkinson's, possibly the most irritating and rude of all Slytherins, diary! Everything she wrote down, in the strictest of confidence, we could read.

"Wait until I show this to Seamus and Dean," Ron exulted, "I think we'll print this entry out on flyers and distribute them in the Slytherin common room!"

And then something went off in my head. Pansy had always been a horrid bitch to all of us….but still. To read someone else's diary, no matter how much they deserved your ill will and no matter how entertaining the entries were, there was just something wrong with it.

"Ron, I don't think that's a good idea, it's not fair to her, she wasn't even the target this time," I started. I sounded unconvincing.

Ron stared at me, trying to gauge if I was being serious.

"Hermione…you realize this is the girl who goes out of her way to call you mudblood, right? Remember when she and her friends made roaring noises behind your back because she said your hair looked like a lion's mane? And remember that time she---"

"Yes Ronald, thank you for reminding me," I grimaced. Pansy had been a horrible bitch to me, there was no denying that. "But we would be stooping to her level if we made fun of her like that."

Ronald made a guffawing sound. So I used the oldest trick in my book, inventing rule violations.

"And besides, it violates section 13.16a of the Hogwarts Inter-House Relationship Code, which strictly prohibits magical acquisition of personal information."

Did Hogwarts have an Inter-House Relationship Code? I doubted it, but I didn't doubt Ron was too lazy to challenge me on it.

His face turned crestfallen. "Fine," he sighed, defeated.

I picked up the book.

"Alright, I'll take this then. No public humiliations for Pansy Parkinson today."

Ron groaned in protest. Harry, head still pressed in his hands and still disappointed by last night's failure, groaned in unison.

"You boys groan entirely too much," I grinned as I walked back to my room.

Right before I tossed the book into the trash can, I wondered if Pansy would thank me for this, if she knew. Probably not.

* * *

I noted, with more than a little amusement, that most of the Slytherins in class that morning appeared disheveled, with bags under their eyes. I overheard some Hufflepuffs at the next desk gossiping to each other.

"I heard it took them three hours to find that mouse!"

Ha! Fred and George were true artists in mayhem. I also noted that Pansy walked into class late and equally disheveled, and grinned to myself as I wondered if it had been Millicent's crying or snoring that had kept her up this time.

Ron and Harry, of course, spent all class furiously plotting for tonight, when they planned to try again to switch mutus paper into Draco's notebook. Ron had another shrieking mouse ball, but figured it would be courting capture and disaster to unleash it again. I thought it'd be hilarious. Maybe this time in the girl's bathroom….

"MISS GRANGER!" bellowed Professor Snape.

Uh oh, I guess I had been too obvious with my daydreams.

"Umm, yes Professor?" I squeaked.

"Well then, I would like to kindly welcome you back to reality," he dripped with icy sarcasm, "And would appreciate if you'd so grace us with your _immense _(served with a extra dose of sarcasm) intelligence and tell us the ingredients for Jenfroo's Levitation Tonic?"

Oh crap, I knew I had studied this…but last night I had been so tied up with Harry's adventures that I hadn't had a chance to refresh…….I knew it had willowjuice, gryffon tendon and uhhh…..oh yes.

"Willowjuice, gryffon tendon and burbur root, Professor," I smiled sweetly. I could see the disappointment in his eyes as he quickly moved on to different topics. Ha! Lavender gave me a thumbs-up from across the classroom.

Ron and Harry were dismissed early for some sort of Quidditch team meeting, and as I was leaving class my eyes briefly scanned over Pansy, furiously scolding Millicent. I had to chuckle.

Pansy, alerted by the sound, looked up, and when she recognized who made the sound she at first appeared shocked, and then furious. Uh oh.

"What are YOU laughing at, Granger? Did you just happen to glance in the mirror or something?"

Any other time, I would have just walked away, but I wasn't going to let an insult that lame get to me, especially after I had just read this girl's diary and saved her from humiliation. 'You owe me, bitch,' I thought in my mind. I flashed my widest smile.

"Quite right Parkinson! I was imagining what I'd look like if I had your pug-nose! Suffice it to say, your nose does add a comical flair to any face." Not a bad comeback at all, if I may say so myself.

Pansy's mouth gaped in shock. I could tell her mouth was probably overwhelmed by the deluge of curses being screamed out in her brain.

"You….you…..mudblood scum! How….how….DARE YOU—"

"Sorry Parkinson," I interrupted, "I've got to get going, but feel free to direct your curses at Millicent instead, I'm sorry to have interrupted that." Triumphantly, I walked away. It wasn't often I won an argument with Pansy Parkinson.

As I turned the corner at the end of the hallway, I gazed briefly back, and saw Pansy standing in the middle of the hallway, giving me the strangest look. Her features were contorted, and for a second I thought she might be trying to hex me. But it mostly reminded me of the look on Ron's face when I tried to explain to him what a telephone was: a look of complete and utter bafflement.

In one Potions class I had managed to outwit both Snape and Pansy. Godric Gryffindor would be proud.

* * *

Later that night, after I finished my homework, I sat in bed and thought about my encounter with Pansy. I had essentially beaten her, in front of Millicent too---she was bound to be humiliated. I would have to watch my back for her inevitable retaliation, probably in the form of slander or hex.

Suddenly, it hit me. The mutus book, linked to her diary, was still sitting right by my feet in the trash bin. This morning I had scolded Ron for thinking of using her diary, but this was different. His intentions had been malicious, mine were purely self-preservational.

I slid down my bed and grabbed the book, opening it on my lap. There was a new entry, dated today. It was in shaky handwriting, obviously hastily written.

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_November 21st_

_My hand is trembling, and I need to organize my thoughts here. _

_I just had an exhilarating fight with Hermione. For once, she didn't run, she stood her ground and performed as well I knew she would. _

_She's just too clever and witty, Millicent was impressed too. She agrees she should have been Slytherin, but tells me I obsess too much about her. Ha! If only she knew how much I actually thought about Hermione, she'd probably have me locked up. _

_Anyway, she was laughing about something after class, I don't even know if it was about me or not, but it was a great chance to insult her, to match wits with her, just to talk to her._

_So I insulted her, rather poorly too (I must have sounded like Draco). But instead of running away like ALWAYS, she insulted me back, and it was a good insult too! Finally, she FINALLY struck back! I don't know how long I've waited for that, but I was completely shocked when it finally happened. And then, as cool as anyone can be, she sauntered away, smug and victorious. Granger had such a sweet smile too, while she was insulting me. All her lovely teeth were bared, and she looked like a tiger grinning before attacking. It was so Slytherin and so pretty. She must do it more often. _

_Oh and she did the same thing to Professor Snape too! She was clearly day-dreaming, and he asked her the ingredients to some levitation potion we haven't even covered yet (totally unfair!) and I was worried she wouldn't know the answer. But of course she was her usual unflappable self: same sweet smile, same correct answer. Oh and she even had her hair up today, which looks much better, and of course allows me to stare at her neck as well. Very swan-like, I may add. _

_Today's developments were most encouraging. I'm not sure insulting her is the best way to gain her friendship, but it's a start. I just wish I had more than just Potions with her, but that should be enough. I've finally got her reacting to me, and she's too fascinating, too marvelous for me to go back.  
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What? WHAT?

My brain nearly exploded. I would have sooner expected a valentine from Voldemort than a positive word from Pansy. Much less...THIS. Whatever it was.

Completely numb, I pushed the book off my lap and fell back onto my bed and stared at my ceiling, my mind trying to decipher meaning from what it had just read.

It sounded like Pansy admired me. More than that, it sounded like Pansy was _obsessed _with me. And then my stomach clenched up.

Actually, it sounded like Pansy was in love with me.


	2. Hermione the Lamb

Disclaimer: Of course, none of these characters or anything belong to me.

Summary: Further adventures in the lovely romantic dance we know as Pansy-Hermione.

A/N: Sorry about the delay in posting. I hadn't really myself decided what tone or content the story would take. I spent quite a few calculus classes daydreaming and debating over whether to interject angst and smut into the story. For now, I've held off on them, but they may appear in later chapters (don't be surprised if this story is changed to a M rating). Anyway, I'll be posting the third chapter soon. Thanks to my kind reviewers, and please--if you like this story, review it! Authors derive no payment from their work other than the praise of their readers. :-)

* * *

Ginny cocked her head and put her hand on my shoulder. 

"Merlin, Hermione, you look awful. Are you feeling well?"

I glanced at the mirror. She was right. Bloodshot eyes, disheveled hair and blotchy skin---I looked like I'd spent the night chugging butterbeer on the roof. Funny what finding out your worst enemy has a lesbian crush on you will do to a person.

"Uh, yeah….I had a bad cough last night. Couldn't sleep."

A lie, of course. I spent the night deciding what I would do in response to Pansy's diary entry. I wasn't even sure how to feel.

Ginny took out her wand. "Well, nothing a few beautify spells can't fix. Go to the infirmary if your cough doesn't get better, okay?"

I mean, I'm not used to even _boys_ liking me. Sure there was Viktor, and if Ron wasn't so lazy he'd probably have made a move by now, but those barely registered. Both boys are my friends, and nothing more. But Pansy….Pansy was a girl, and beyond that she was a Slytherin and beyond THAT she was my biggest opponent and bitterest enemy. Well actually, was she? Her diary entry made it sound like she was insulting me only in a perverse attempt to befriend me. Were all her insults, even the mudblood stuff, an effort to win me over? Had she liked me from the beginning? If she really liked me, did she still believe all that mudblood stuff? I wished I could read her mind instead of only her diary.

"Hermione?"

What could I do? Since she was deliberately trying to provoke a response from me, the most logical choice seemed to be just to ignore her. Ignore her long enough and she'd eventually end her silly obsession. But what if I had misread this whole thing? Maybe Pansy just wanted to be my friend, and if that was the case, what was wrong with that? It'd be nice to have a friend in Slytherin. And if she wanted to be more than just friends…I mean Pansy was a pretty girl, I must admit it was sort of flattering actua---

"Okay, Hermione?" It was Ginny, with a note of concern in her voice.

"Wha—what? Okay what?" What was she talking about?

"If your cough doesn't get better, you'll go to the infirmary, okay?"

"Oh, right. Sorry about that Pansy."

Ginny's head cocked so far to the side, one more inch and it might have rotated off her spine.

"Uhh…I mean Ginny….sorry."

I beat a hasty retreat back to my bed. Yes…I would try to ignore Pansy. If only I could just get her out of my mind first.

* * *

Upon entering the Great Hall, I was greeted with the sound of yelling, from two familiar voices. Harry and Ron…for best friends, they sure did fight a lot. 

"It's not MY fault! It's not MY fault that you can't read, or that you're so obsessed with this to begin with!"

"Oh it's not your fault huh? You HANDED it to me! You might as well have taken a knife and stabbed me in the back instead! It surely would have been quicker, and less humiliating!"

Oh great. This sounded perfect.

Harry saw me approaching, and waved me over. He pointed at Ron, and then explained, for my benefit.

"Yesterday, when I went sneaking into the Slytherin common room, this git handed me a deathflower stink ball instead of a shrieking mouse ball! The ball blew up in my pocket before I even got into Slytherin! I had to go to Madame Pomfrey to remove the smell!"

I suddenly remembered. Harry was still planning on switching the mutus paper into Draco's notebook. And there _was _a rather curious odor in the halls yesterday, come to think of it.

Ron looked at me, incensed.

"The balls look the same, Hermione! It's not my responsibility that he can't read the names on the ball, or prepare his own mischief!"

The boys both looked at me, expecting me to either mediate or assign blame.

I sighed.

"Boys….." I trailed off, to no one in particular. I had my own issues to deal with and I wasn't really in the mood to resolve _their _problems as well.

Instead of sitting down, I just kept walking down the aisle, past the tables, past the trays of food. I walked to the end of the hall, and since I was there, I figured I might as well just head up the stairs to my first class, Potions. It figures. I always try to find solace in a classroom.

* * *

There was still about half an hour before class started, and since I had had essentially no sleep during the night, I resolved to take a short nap. Using my bookbag as a pillow, I quickly drifted off. 

I awoke a few minutes later when the Potions door squeaked open. I heard the sound of footsteps pattering on the floor, heading towards the desks. It was nothing out of the ordinary, so I kept my eyes closed and attempted to fall back to sleep….until I realized that the footsteps had ended in front of my desk, and were impatiently tapping on the floor. That was definitely unusual.

'Oh god,' I thought to myself, 'Please be Harry…or Ron…please be Harry or Ron.'

I opened my eyes. Oh my god.

Pansy.

Pansy Parkinson. Alone. With me. Oh my god.

I could not have conceived of a worse situation than the one I found myself in--- trapped in an empty room with the one person I had meant to avoid above all others.

Pansy stood in front of me, with a triumphant smirk on her face. Her mouth opened as I stared at her in terror.

"Why if it isn't the little mudblood princess herself! Honestly Granger, I knew you were an insufferable bookworm, but do you miss class so much that you feel a need to sleep here?" Her smirk grew even wider.

My mouth gaped open, as I choked over possible responses, or whether I should even respond at all. _Ignore her ignore her ignore her ignore her_

"Ah—uhh….I….uhhhh….don't…" was the imbecilic drivel I managed to force out.

Pansy's eyes lit up. Delighting in the terror evident on my face, she leaned in even closer.

"What's the matter, Granger?" She almost whispered. "Scared of little ole me? Where are your precious quips now?"

I sat motionless, paralyzed with fear and trying to avoid hyperventilating.

She leaned in so our faces were almost touching. Her nose lightly brushed against mine. I could feel her breath, and smell the scent of cinnamon. 'She uses the same shampoo as Parvati,' I thought to myself. That was the only coherent thought I could muster. Why was I so flustered?

"Please…Pansy…" I pleaded.

The smirk returned to her face.

"Please….what? Please what, Granger?"

_Please...please...leave me alone...let me be...don't hurt me...kiss me..._

"Please….leave me alone," I managed to mutter.

To my surprise, Pansy pulled back, and smiled.

"Aww Granger, but where's the fun in that? What kind of Slytherin would I be if were polite?"

She sat on my desk, and began brushing her fingers through my hair. I trembled at her touch.

"Why, if I were polite," she sang, stroking my hair, "I'd be in Gryffindor with you, wouldn't I? Heroically solving the world's problems and achieving harmony through friendship, right?"

"No, I think I prefer it my way," she continued. Her hand started stroking my ear. I shivered as her fingers brushed against my skin. She suddenly leaned forward and whispered into my ear.

"I think you'd prefer it my way, too."

And with that, she sprang off my desk, and triumphantly sauntered to her desk, leaving me a trembling wreck. I couldn't formulate thoughts, or even compute what had just happened, but I knew two things for sure.

1) My attempt to ignore Pansy had been a spectacular failure.

2) And….and…..I had sort of enjoyed it.

* * *

To say the rest of Potions class was uncomfortable would be an understatement. Harry and Ron were horribly mad at each other, and each was separately mad at me as well, for not intervening in the morning. I was still trying to comprehend what Pansy had done to me. 

Why had I been so flustered? I had been calm and confident dealing with her the day before, but today, at first glance of her I became terrified and essentially surrendered to her whims. And weirdly enough, something about that felt good.

But beyond that, I was still overcome with confusion and exhaustion. At lunch, I could feel Pansy staring at me. I didn't see it with my own eyes, but I felt it. I skipped my Charms and Herbology classes in the afternoon, as I was in no in condition to attend, and fled back to my room and tried to sleep this whole ordeal off.

When I awoke it was already past dinner time. I rolled off my bed and headed towards my desk, intending to finish my DADA homework, but the mutus book, sitting atop my schoolbooks, gave me an unwelcome reminder of the mess I'd been trying to sleep off. With firm resolve (the kind that had been missing that morning), I pushed it aside and began my homework.

But, as soon I congratulated myself for my newfound resolve, it failed me. As I read the chapter about Floridian bridge trolls, my mind kept wandering….to Pansy. To what happened this morning. I _had _to know what she wrote.

I grabbed the mutus book and flung it open.

-------------------------------------------

_November 22nd,_

_I am giddy with joy!_

_It's been two straight days with two straight amazing encounters. I can't believe my luck, after so long, it's finally happening the way I'd hoped. _

_I went to Potions early today so I'd be ready when Hermione came in, but when I walked in----lo and behold, she was already there, sleeping. And we were alone! _

_I've waited for a chance to be alone with her for years. And I don't know why, but Hermione was terrified of me. She had been so confident yesterday, insulting both Snape and myself, but today she could barely whimper in my presence. And I loved it. Gosh, there's nothing about her I don't love. Yesterday, she was so aggressive and confident, but today she was meek and submissive. She is both a lioness and a lamb, and I find both equally thrilling. She smells nice, her hair is soft, and when she whimpers her face and eyes are so vulnerable looking and so unbelievably attractive that I came close to kissing her right there…which would have been bad. But it's hard to control myself around someone like that. _

_Anyway, it's almost unfair that I have an encounter like that with someone like Hermione, and then I have to spend the rest of the day with someone as boorish as Millicent. But not even Millicent can ruin this. _

_She shivered when I touched her! And I am shivering with excitement at the thought of tomorrow. _

_------------------------------------------------_

Shit.

Dread pooled in my stomach.

Pansy was in love with me. It couldn't be denied anymore. And this was a huge problem that had the potential to turn into an enormously humiliating one, and even worse, a potentially dangerous and deadly one. I had to stop it now.

It was all Pansy's fault. How could she be so irresponsible? She's a Slytherin, she should know better! A Slytherin in love with a Gryffindor… a mudblood no less….there was no way the House of Slytherin would allow it. I'd heard rumors of Slytherins who were banished from their house and later killed for violating taboos. And a lesbian crush on a member of an enemy house was probably a pretty big taboo.

And that's not to mention Draco. Pansy's supposed to be his future bride, if he found out, there's no telling what he'd do. Or worse, what Lucius Malfoy would do. And Harry and Ron? They're opposed to even being friendly with Slytherins, much less romantic. They would see it as a betrayal. And she's a girl! Wizard society isn't nearly as progressive as muggle society on such matters.

No, this couldn't work. I had to stop it. I had to make it obvious to Pansy that I wasn't interested, and perhaps anger her so much that she would despise me. It was a lot safer for Pansy to hate me than love me. I had to ignore her, completely ignore her, or worse.

_Ignore her ignore her ignore her ignore her ignore her ignore her_

And yet….

There was something about the way her eyes glittered along with her smirk….and how confident and commanding she was when she spoke….and the way she smelled like Parvati, but better.

And yet….


	3. Reality Triumphs

Disclaimer: All these characters are J.K Rowling's. All the lesbian subtext? Totally mine.

Summary: Little hints of the smut and angst that the masses are surely clamoring for.

A/N: Okay, I finally got some free time and was able to type this up. Now, originally I had written a much smuttier chapter. But 1) my smut sucks, and 2) it really didn't fit the overall tone of the story. But I may include my poorly written smut in the future, dont'cha worry NotSus! Oh, and Lilian, I can see what you're saying, and thanks for the effusive praise. But I like these characters too much to give them a sad ending. And my angst writing is only slightly better than my smut. :-)  
Anyway, if you like it, please review! This goes for me, and every other author on this site. Enjoy!

* * *

Not properly grasping the danger of my actions, I confront Harry and plainly state that _I _will sneak into Slytherin to switch the mutus paper into Draco's notebook.

He's bewildered. He can't understand why I would do such a thing. But as I can be very forceful in my arguments, I manage to convince him that I am a lithe and capable sneak, and that, unlike him, I won't let my emotions get in the way. He acquiesces, and hands me his invisibility cloak and a stack of mutus paper.

On my way out, I drop the mutus paper on my bed. I'm not going into Slytherin to switch some silly paper.

I sneak down deserted hallways and back passages towards the Slytherin dorms. I stop around the corner from their doorway, and slip the cloak over my body. It's only a matter of minutes before a student comes by. Slipping silently behind him, I follow as the Slytherin wall slides open, granting me entry to a lair I had until yesterday dreaded.

A few Slytherins mill around a common room that bears exact symmetry with ours in Gryffindor---how odd. I quietly glide up the stairs to the dorms.

How strange…the dorms are organized exactly like Gryffindor's. When I reach the girl's dormitory, I stop. Just what am I doing? What do I expect to find or do on the other side of that door? And yet, as if compelled by some ethereal force, I slip through the door.

It makes no sense…the dorms are exactly like ours. But before I can stop and question, I see my target. Curled up on her bed, scribbling in a book. Her diary! She is alone in the dorm, how is that possible? Where is everyone else? But again, I feel an irresistible pull towards her, and before I know it I am standing at the side of her bed, a phantom, entranced by her visage.

She smiles happily as she writes, occasionally flashing her teeth in a grin. Her teeth are white and straight...and perfect. She is wearing her Slytherin pajamas and rubbing her feet together for warmth.

I stand a few feet away from her, and just gaze at her. When she is happy, like now, or mischievous, like in the Potions classroom, Pansy is a different person. Without the scowl etched on her face, she's not just better looking, but beautiful. When she smiles, or grins, or smirks her eyes join along. _This person is in love with me. _What a strange feeling.

Not knowing what to do, I just stand there for a few minutes. After a while, Pansy sighs, and gets up off the bed.

"Are you just going to stand there all night, Granger?"

My blood chills. How…how does she know I'm here? I began to back away from her bed, shuffling back to the door.

"Honestly, Granger. Don't even think about it." Pansy grabs her wand off the desk and lazily casts a lock spell on the door.

Grinning, she walks up to me, stopping a foot away.

"Now….take it off."

My heart skips a beat as my hands start to finger the wand in my pocket.

Pansy closes the distance between us, until she is breathing on my cloak.

"Take. It. Off."

I stare at her through the cloak. She is smirking. My heart skips a beat when I see the confidence, the smugness in her face. _Yes, Pansy_. I take a deep breath and slip off the cloak.

Pansy's eyes widen when I appear before her. I am blushing horribly at this point, and Pansy's smirk grows even wider.

I stand there, too ashamed to speak or look at her. Pansy breaks the silence.

"My, my, my, Granger. Tell me, I'm sure you know…is there a rule against sneaking into another house's dorm?"

Yes. Article 17 of the Hogwarts Charter. But realizing this only makes me blush a more crimson hue.

"Now then Granger, I'm sure you're used to hearing this."

"Take it off."

Huh? I look up in her eyes, confusion temporarily overriding my embarrassment.

Pansy chuckles. "Don't make me ask you again, Granger. You didn't come here to watch me study."

It dawns on me slowly. She can't be serious.

Pansy, seeing the panic form in my eyes, starts stroking my hair again, like she did in the Potions classroom.

"I promise you won't regret it," she coos, "You won't regret it, Hermione."

Hermione. My name. I don't think she's ever called me that before. _Yes, Pansy. _Who am I to resist her? Words form on my lips.

"Please…Pansy. Oh please…"

"Please what, Granger?"

"Please…please…" I cannot seem to break through that final wall.

More stroking on my hair. Gentler this time.

"Look at me, Hermione."

_Hermione. _I look at her.

"Please, what?" She is holding my face softly, and staring directly into my eyes. She smiles, as if to tell me that everything will be alright. Her smile, her beautiful beautiful smile and her teeth --- so white! --- push me over the edge.

"Please, Pansy. Kiss me." I whisper, desperate and breathless. And nearly before I finish, I feel her lips pressed against mine.

It is a haze, I cannot describe, only to say that it is done before I know it, before I want it to end. Pansy stands before me, licking her lips, and smiling. She crosses her arms on her chest and drinks in my body with her eyes.

"You're ravishing, Granger."

I can feel her eyes, as if they were piercing my skin. I shut my eyes to avoid them.

"Now, take it off, Granger."

I manage a whimper.

"Please…please no."

"Did you like that kiss?"

I nod.

"It was a mere sample of what I can show you, of what we can do, tonight. So please, Hermione, take it off."

Through my clenched eyes, I can feel her breath, and I am too far gone, too drunk with desire, to properly resist. I reach down and undo my belt.

_"Hermione? Come on."_

This is not Pansy speaking. Someone else is in the room. Pansy! She tricked me.

But when I open my eyes I am blinded by sunlight, and enveloped in something warm.

"Hermione! Come on!"

Parvarti.

I'm in my bed, in my dorm, in my pajamas. I groan.

God, it was all a dream. A very…vivid dream, about the most inappropriate subject possible.

Parvati appears in front of me.

"Late night studying, huh?" she grins cheerfully. "Anyway, get up! You've certainly been dreaming long enough and they're serving french toast for breakfast today."

I mutter an affirmation and dutifully roll out of bed, and as she turns to leave, I catch a whiff of her shampoo. God, she smells like---no, NO. I can't start thinking like that again.

Lavender walks in from the shower.

"Ah, dream girl is finally up!" she says, laughing.

"Excuse me?" This could be bad.

"You must have had quite the dream last night, Hermione. Par and I were arguing about whether you were having a wet dream or a nightmare."

Parvati, at the doorway, nods and laughs. "Or both."

I don't know what to say, so I just smile weakly.

Lavender continues. "You kept saying 'oh please' over and over again. Is there something to tell us about you and Ron?"

Parvati interjects. "But you also kept mumbling 'no please' as well. Since 5am, actually."

Oh god.

"So, Mione, you kept us up all night, I think we have a right to know. Just what were you dreaming about?"

I steel what composure I have left.

"I don't actually remember, sorry. I think I might have been mumbling because I was up last night studying for the potion test today. Maybe I was reciting potions in my dreams."

Neither of them looks convinced. Lavender winks.

"If that's the case, remind me to stay up late studying for potions sometime."

Entreating me to hurry up and join them at breakfast, they leave the room. It really annoys me when they pry into my personal life. But they asked a good question.

Was that a nightmare or fantasy?

* * *

A welcome sight greeted me when I headed down for breakfast. Harry and Ron were sitting together and engaging in obviously a very spirited conversation. What was less than welcome, however, were their companions. Seamus Finnegan, Dean Thomas, Katie Bell, Andrew Kirke and Cormac McLaggen. This conversation could only be about one topic. Quidditch. 

"It's just outrageous…this cannot, CANNOT stand." McLaggen's face was red with fury.

Ron slammed his fist on the table.

"They're going to pay for this, I'll see to it. I'll get Fred and George working on it. They'll think of something."

Harry, who would normally be a calming influence on this group, seemed to be angriest of all.

"I should go over right now and wipe that smirk off his ugly face," he fumed, clenching his fist. "They're just scum, pure and simple."

I interrupted.

"Excuse me, lads. Could someone explain to me what happened? Are we at war or something?"

Seamus spoke first. Excitedly.

"Hermione! Yesterdaywewerepracticingforthissaturday'smatchright? Wehadthepitchreserved, untilthoseslimefromslytherinkickedusout!"

"What the hell are you saying?"

Harry interjected, at a more comprehensible pace, though venom dripped off his every word.

"Every Wednesday afternoon the Quidditch pitch is ours. We were running practice yesterday, like always, when the Slytherin team shows up. Lucius Malfoy had bought them new brooms, the Arrowbolts, and they wanted to practice with them."

"Yeah…and?"

"We told them beat off, of course. But then Draco and his slime just get on their brooms and start flying on our pitch anyway, disrupting our practice and taunting us. Those bastards! And then Andrew here…he had enough, and forearmed Urquhart…and then Bletchey hit Andrew with a bludger, broke his arm it did, and then…"

"We had a huge fight until Snape finally broke it up," Ron finished. "And then Snape blamed us! US!"

"Fucking outrageous!" That was Katie.

"So we're going to get back at them," Harry continued. "I'm fucking sick of Slytherin."

Ron snapped his fingers. "I know! Hermione, do you still have that mutus book from a few days back? The one that had Pansy's diary?"

Shit.

"No, I threw it in the fireplace that night." I reminded myself to hide the book. And then I realized something disturbing.

"Besides, Pansy's not even on the Quidditch team!"

"So? Colin Creevey isn't on our Quidditch team either, and some Slytherin goons still beat him up yesterday."

The rest nodded. Dean spoke up.

"I don't care who it is. We get back at any Slytherin. They're all the same."

Everyone else nodded. Except me.

* * *

I suddenly wasn't hungry. I could only poke at my french toast, while Harry, Ron and the Quidditch team continued their plotting. 

_They're all the same. _I knew, the moment those words came out of Dean's mouth, that he spoke for everyone in Gryffindor. And surely, everyone in Slytherin must feel exactly the same about us. God, how could I be so naïve?

This thing…with Pansy had to stop. I can't believe I even entertained the possibility…I can't believe I _dreamed _about it. How stupid could I be? Even a friendship was probably out of the question. Even a friendship…even being seen together, even the conversation we had yesterday in Potions…even that would be frowned on by both our houses. Gryffindors and Slytherins might as well be Montagues and Capulets.

So it had to stop. Today. I resolved to ignore Pansy. Ignore her, or worse. Regardless of whatever mixed messages were being sent by my sub-conscious, reality triumphs. Today I wasn't going to leave anything open for interpretation.

There was a commotion to the left of me, and I overhear Ron and Seamus discussing an idea for unleashing a boggart in the Slytherin Common Room. This was too much. I quickly excused myself to go put away my dishes.

And that's where Pansy caught up to me.

"Granger." Said with a smug tone, like a master addressing her pet. _Pansy. _

When I heard her voice, my heart leapt for just a second. But then it settled. Not today. This had to be done.This obsession, both hers and mine, had to end now.

"I hear our boys had a bit of a scuffle yesterday."

I began scooping my uneaten french toast into the trash, not responding to her.

"Not hungry today, Granger? They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you know. If you don't eat, how will you have the energy to kiss up to your professors?" I could tell Pansy was grinning.

I continued clearing my plate, not even glancing in her direction. _Ignore her. _

Pansy stood there for a few seconds, waiting for a response. When it became obvious one wasn't coming, she leaned in closer.

"What's the matter, Granger? You in mourning over an A- or something?"

_Ignore her._

A few more moments of silence passed.

"Come on Granger, why so quiet all of a sudden?" She sounded almost concerned.

I finished clearing my plate, and put it in the racks. I turned to leave, but Pansy gripped my shoulder with her hands. Silently, I looked up and gave her my angriest glare. The look on her face changed from confidence to obvious shock and confusion. .

"Hey…Granger," she stuttered, her voice suddenly sounding meeker, "I'm…I'm not…uh…don't take me literally, you know…I'm…not…uh...I'm not…"

I ripped my shoulder from her grasp, and without even acknowledging her, walked away. It was cruel, I knew. But it had to be done.


	4. Things Fall Down

Disclaimer: It's all mine! MINE! HAHAHAHA...uh I mean it's all Jo Rowling's.

Summary: Poorly written and boring angst. But I swear the next chapters will be better and more action-packed.

A/N: Sorry about the delay. Finals, lacrosse tournament, packing, etc etc. Sorry about this chapter too. It's a boring though unfortunately necessary bridge towards other, more interesting chapters. For those wondering why I keep wasting your time with Harry and his battle with the Slytherins, let me assure you, it will affect our loverbirds at some future chapter. And sorry about the lame angst. I'm just bad at writing it, and I also wrote this entire chapter in the last two hours, because I'm leaving for a summer holiday in Ecuador in about six hours. I promise to do my best to write from lovely Quito. Not in Spanish, hopefully. Anyway, thanks for the nice reviews, and have a great summer all y'all!

* * *

Even though I never turned my head around to confirm it, I could feel Pansy staring at me in Potions. It would have normally unnerved me to have her staring at me for an entire class, especially after what I had just done to her, so I was fortunate that we had a test today. It was primarily about night vision potions—there are over 150 of them, and Snape was being very particular. But I can be just as particular. 

I turned over the last page of the test and read the final question.

_What are the similarities and differences between Night Fox vision potion and Elwick's vision potion?_

Easy. I was going to finish first, like always.

Professor Snape didn't even look up when I handed in my test, offering only a cursory nod in my direction. Students who finish early are allowed to leave, so I grabbed my book bag and headed out the door.

The hallways were entirely empty, as class wasn't over for nearly half an hour. Since I had been rushed that morning and had the time to kill before my next class, I headed to the bathroom to wash up. It was deserted, as expected, and I turned the faucet on and began to wash my face.

My head was near the faucet but even over the roar of the water I could hear the door creaking open. Though the water I could see a figure standing at the doorway. I had a pretty good guess who it was. Again. Pansy must have turned in her test right after mine and followed me here.

I lifted my head from the sink and glanced in her direction. She was standing near the far wall, her hands gripping her book bag. She looked down to the floor instead of in my direction.

I was at a loss at what to do, so I just stood still, my hands gripping the sink basin. After a few seconds, she looked up. I could tell she was very nervous. She looked down again, and then took a big breath. And then she stepped forward.

"Hermione, um, I want to apologize for anything I may have said or done to you." Her voice was very unsure.

"I uh, if I offended you or hurt you, I'm very sorry." She looked up at me, and I remained silent, unsure how to reply. Then the dam broke, and the words poured out of her at a rapid, almost unintelligible rate.

"It's just that, you know, I never felt like the other Slytherins do, actually I think this feud our houses are having right now is really dumb and I always thought that you seemed interesting so I was really just trying to get to know you and I know I might have acted oddly yesterday but I'm not quite sure how to go about this and I remember last year you gave a speech that talked about inter-house cooperation and…and I thought that maybe we could really make that work…you know?" She smiled and gazed at me hopefully. She was obviously nervous.

I just stared back at her. It hadn't ever occurred to me that I made Pansy nervous. She had always been my snickering tormentor, and now she was apologizing and extending to me an olive branch. It was unexpected, and her face was showing a mixture of worry and friendliness, a combination I had never seen before, and one that suited her. I wanted to smile. But then that voice went off in my head again. The voice of logic? Doubt? Whatever it was, the voice that told me to be quiet. That I was so close to finishing what had to be done.

"Pansy," I started. Her eyes lit up. I felt something knotting in my stomach. "Pansy, we can't be friends."

Her features sunk. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. She blinked several times. "Oh," she finally said.

We stood there in silence for a few moments. After the brief pause, I grabbed my things and headed out of the bathroom. The hallway was still empty, and since there was still time before my next class, I decided I'd head back to the commons room and try to clear my head. But I was halfway down the hall when I passed a mirror and stopped. I looked at my reflection, and the cowardice of what I was doing shamed me.

What was I doing? Why was I behaving like this towards Pansy? The only reason I was turning her away was that I was afraid of what Harry and the others would think, and since when did I care what others thought about me? What was wrong with Pansy being my friend? Who cares that the idiot boys in Gryffindor and Slytherin can't share a Quidditch pitch, how did that concern me and Pansy? Gosh, she had even remembered that inter-house cooperation speech I had given last year. She had probably been the only one in the entire audience who had paid attention to me. She had been the only one listening.

I quickly turned around and headed back to the bathroom, stopping outside the door to brace myself. Through the door I could hear crying. I had made Pansy cry. The thought of it would have been impossible just a day ago, but now realizing the power I had over her, I cursed myself for being so cowardly and causing it. I gripped the door handle and quickly tried to come up with a heartfelt apology speech.

"_Pansy, I'm sorry for what I just said. We can be friends. I want to be your friend. It doesn't matter what the people in our Houses think. It doesn't." _That would work for the time being. My hand turned the knob.

"Hermione!" I turned around. Harry was coming out of the Potions classroom, running in my direction. "Hermione, we need your help."

My hand was still on the bathroom door handle, but I turned towards him. How could I not? I heard the crying in the bathroom stop for a moment, as Pansy must have heard Harry.

"Hermione, I…, well WE need you to make me a levitation potion, and we need it before Charms class."

I looked at him quizzically.

He sighed, annoyed. "Look, we're getting back at the Slytherins this evening, and they are bound to have a lookout at their entrance, so I need to fly there, and my invisibility cloak isn't big enough to cover a broom."

Ugh, this again.

"Come on, Dean's been collecting the ingredients on the 3rd floor Prefect's Bathroom. We need to go."

And with that he grabbed my hand and led me off, my other hand ripped away from the bathroom doorknob, ripped away from Pansy.

* * *

It took me two hours to brew Harry's potion, largely due to Dean collecting the wrong ingredients. During that time, Harry and the Quidditch team went over their plan for revenge. Harry was to sneak in during the evening carrying very powerful curse powder, which he was going to use on the Slytherin brooms. He was going to replace their quaffles with some bonko ones from Fred and George's shop that they had programmed to attack the Slytherin team. And finally, Harry said with a flourish, he was _finally _going to place mutus paper in Draco's notebook. It was, of course, complete madness, and I got out of there as soon as I could.

Unfortunately, as soon as I could meant that I missed all but the last ten minutes of lunch. I had briefly considered trying to apologize to Pansy in the dining hall, but she was nowhere to be found. After the rest of my classes, I waited until the evening, and thought of ways that I could get some private time with her, enough that I could apologize and explain myself. But she wasn't at dinner either. I kept glancing over at the Slytherin table, but she never showed.

Harry and the Quidditch team weren't at dinner either. They were off being complete fools and waging war on the Slytherin, practically begging to be expelled. With Pansy not in the dining hall and my friends off ruining their academic careers, I picked half-heartedly at my food till I couldn't stand it any longer and headed back to my room.

With Pansy not showing up to lunch and dinner, I had become rather worried. I picked up the mutus book and glanced at it, but the page was blank. I really hoped she was okay. I left the book open on my desk while doing my homework.

I was halfway through next week's Charms homework when I heard a commotion outside, and Neville burst into my room, tripping over a chair and scaring Parvati to death. I was about to scold and remind him that boys aren't allowed in our dormitory when I saw the look on his face of pure panic.

"Harry's in the hospital!" he exclaimed. Parvati began to ask a question when he burst out shouting.

"He was hexed! They say it was an old Deatheater hex and that he might not make it!"

* * *

In a panic, I grabbed my wand and sprinted to the hospital wing, my mind swimming with horrible thoughts. Ron and Cormac McLaggen were outside, angrier than I'd ever seen them, which was saying a lot. Ron saw me coming and exploded.

"Hermione, we can't let them get away with this! We Gryffindors can't allow this sort of humiliation---"I cut him off.

"Is Harry going to live?" I tried to remain calm.

Ron looked confused for a second. "Yeah, why wouldn't he?"

"I heard that he was hit with a Deatheater hex."

Ron snorted derisively. "Who told you that, Neville? It was a Humiliato hex, all it did was give him a lot of nasty warts on his face. Draco had hexed his notebook, so when Harry tried to put mutus paper in he got hit."

I stared at him. I couldn't believe I had sprinted to the hospital wing for this. "So Harry's going to be alright?"

"Yeah, but we can't let them get away with this Hermione!"

But I was already walking away.

Ron yelled at my back. "Hermione, you have to help us get even!"

I wasn't going to turn around. I no longer cared what those idiots and their idiot counterparts in Slytherin did to each other.

When I got back to my dorm, I noticed that the once blank page of mutus paper was now full with writing. It was comforting to know that Pansy was still writing in her diary.

_----------------------------------------------------------  
November 22nd_

_I have to face the truth. I'm never going to be with Hermione. Ever. Not even as friends. I've obsessed over it for so long that I don't even know what to feel, or where to go from here. It's all I've thought about, the only thing that made me happy. And it was such a silly fantasy to begin with that I can't believe I ever thought it was possible. _

_All I've done to her for the past six years has been to torment and make fun of her. How could I expect anything to develop from that? I know how she looks at me, like I'm just another Slytherin. She must think I'm eagerly awaiting my dark mark. That I want her dead just because of her parents. That I can't wait to marry that creep Draco. God, if she only knew. _

_Even now, when I know it's impossible, I can't stop thinking about her. If she just knew! If she just knew who I really am, and how much we had in common, there is no doubt in my mind we'd be friends. I know it. I know it! But she never will. _

_I even failed my Potions exam today. I failed everything today.  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
_

I stared at the page. I wanted to get up and run to her, and throw myself on her and beg forgiveness. I thought about the dream I had that morning, and wondered if it would be that easy to sneak into her dorm. I began crying, and moved onto my bed and closed the curtains so Parvati wouldn't see it.

I never expected and certainly didn't want to hurt someone this badly. Especially someone who cared for me like she did. That shame that I had earlier that morning, when I walked out on Pansy, came back. I had hurt her like this because I was afraid of upsetting Harry and Ron. I had hurt her for those two idiots who were more concerned with showing up Slytherin than breathing.

I stared at the mutus paper. I brushed over it with my fingers. I could write back to her on this paper if I wanted. Anything I wrote on this paper would show up on hers. I could apologize right here and right now. After brief consideration, I realized it would be a bad idea. I instead traced with my finger what I wanted to say.

_Pansy, I'll make it up to you tomorrow, I promise. _


	5. Sunshine at Hogwarts

Disclaimer: Last I checked, I was still not in JK Rowling's will, and thus, these characters remain hers.

Summary: Another (honestly, can you believe it?) rendezvous in the bathroom, as Hermione desperately tries to make things right again.

A/N: Sorry! I know it's been a month since I updated, but I've had massive writer's block on this particular chapter. Hopefully the next one won't take nearly as long. But in the meantime, as I am stuck in South America, I've kept extremely busy by writing other fics. If you haven't checked them out already, please do. If you guys like this story, you'll probably (hopefully) like my others. Anyway, thanks for reading, please review, and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

"Damn," I muttered to myself, turning my head back towards my plate. 

"What's that, Hermione?" Padma asked, her mouth full of toast.

"Oh…nothing," I smiled outwardly, while inwardly cursing. Damn damn damn. Pansy wasn't at breakfast, _again_, making it three straight meals she had missed.

Her missing meals complicated things. Meal time, because it was so hectic, was maybe the only time I had a chance to talk to her alone. And how was I going to apologize to Pansy if I couldn't meet with her alone? We only shared one class, and I really had no clue about her whereabouts for the rest of the day, so my options were slim. I just needed a chance to get her alone. My plan had been to catch her in the bustle as breakfast was dismissed.

"You look distracted today," Padma said as she stared at me from across the table.

That I certainly was. I had been distracted for the past eight hours, trying to think how I was going to make amends with Pansy, or even just get to talk to her. I hadn't come up with any good ideas.

"Are you worried about Harry? I mean, it was just a Humiliato hex, you know, nothing serious."

I nodded. "Actually, if I'm worried about anything, it's what those idiot friends of mine will do in retaliation." That was why I was sitting with the Patil twins instead of in my normal seat.

Padma nodded. "Yeah, I overheard Cormac saying that 'things were going to go down' when we go to Hogsmeade this weekend. Typical boys, they'll probably ruin the weekend for everyone."

I sighed. "Ugh, I'm so sick of this feud. As far as I'm concerned, we're not acting any better than the Slytherins."

Parvati, sitting to my left, seemed upset by those words. "Hermione, we're nothing like the Slytherins! They were the ones that started this feud, you know, and I just hate the way they walk around looking down on all the muggle-borns."

Padma chimed in. "Oh I know! We don't really like them in Ravenclaw either. They're just creepy and weird. They don't allow any members of other houses to sit at their table during meals, they have all those weird oaths and chants, and what really pisses me off is how Snape lets them take make up tests in his class."

Yeah. I couldn't argue with any of those points. But I didn't care about Slytherins, I just cared about Pansy. She seemed different, like that maybe…actually, wait a second---

"Pad, what do you mean Snape lets Slytherins take make up tests?"

"Oh, you haven't heard? If a Slytherin fails one of Snape's tests, he'll let them stay after class the next day and re-take it." Her voice dropped. "And he'll give them the answers."

My mind raced. We had had a test in Potions yesterday. Pansy had turned it in early, on purpose, so that she could corner me in the bathroom. She _must _have failed it. I thought back. In fact, she even said that she failed it in her diary! Which meant that today she'd be staying after in Snape's class. This might be my opportunity to get her alone.

"Ugh, Snape is such a cheater!" Parvati, always a stickler for fairness, was incensed.

I thought furiously. I could hide somewhere until Pansy finished her make up test, and then approach her after she left Snape's class. I was formulating my plan on the fly, as I sat there at the breakfast table. Everyone else would be in class, Pansy would be alone! That was all I needed.

"Can you imagine any other professor doing that for his house? I have no idea why Dumbledore lets him get away with it," Padma huffed.

I nodded in agreement, though I was no longer listening to them.

Yes, Pansy would be alone. It was perfect.

* * *

I stood, pressed against the bathroom wall, peeking through the crack in the door. 

I was waiting for Pansy to finish her make up test. I could see the Potions classroom from my position, and I knew she was still inside because I hadn't seen her leave. However, I hadn't seen Draco, Goyle or Crabbe leave, either. I guess all the Slytherins were taking make-up tests.

Potions class had been extremely odd today. The class was still buzzing about Harry's stay in the hospital, and Ron and his gang made threatening gestures to the Slytherins all class long. To avoid getting caught in the middle, I again chose to sit with the Patils. Sitting with them also gave me a better view of Pansy. After missing three straight meals, I was relieved when she entered the room. It was the first time I had seen her since the unpleasantness yesterday, and she looked awful, like she hadn't slept. She kept her head down on her desk for the entire class, and it was tremendously frustrating that I couldn't make up with her right then.

But hey, that's why I was spending my third period hiding out in a dingy bathroom, waiting for her to come out so I could whisk her away someplace private and apologize profusely. It was almost silly, I'm sure I looked ridiculous.

Concerns about my appearance disappeared when I heard noise coming from the hallway. I pressed my eye up to the door crack and saw Snape's door open. A small delicate hand gripped the side of the door and gently pushed it out. Out stepped Pansy, and my heart jumped. My muscles tensed as I prepared to make my move. This was my chance!

But then right behind her came Millicent.

And, to my horror, she announced to Pansy, "Hold on, I've got to pee," and headed right towards the bathroom in which I hiding.

To have my hopes of a solitary moment alone with Pansy dashed so shockingly and suddenly must have scrambled the logic center in my brain, because as Millicent approached I completely panicked. It was a public bathroom, I had every right to be in there and could have just pretended to be washing my hands or something. But I had become so paranoid that I was convinced Millicent would see through it and know my true intentions for being there.

In my fit of insanity, my head darted back and forth as I looked for a place to hide, all the while hearing Millicent's footsteps draw closer. At last, unable to find a better hiding place, I dove behind the trash bin in the corner, brought my legs up to my chest, closed my eyes and desperately hoped I would go unnoticed.

The door creaked open as Millicent walked in, and I heard the click and clack of a toilet seat being lowered and a stall door being locked. I opened my eyes. The trash bin I was hiding behind was barely three feet tall, Millicent would surely see me when she came out. Knowing my best option was a quiet escape, I gingerly stood up and began to tiptoe towards the door. But before I had even gone two steps, the door opened again, sending me diving back behind the trash bin.

I peeked around the bin and saw Pansy walk in and head the opposite direction from me, towards the sinks, where she began to wash her hands.

"Is that you, Pans?" Millicent called out.

"Yeah," she muttered in reply.

"Are you sure you're all alright, Pans? It's not like you keep missing all these meals. You wanna go to Madame Pomfrey?"

Pansy, finished with washing her hands, grabbed a paper towel and began to dry off. "No, I'm just…not well right now. But Madame Pomfrey can't help it."

"Are you sure? Remember, Potter's still in the hospital, we could just go to laugh at him." I heard Millicent giggle.

Pansy sighed, crumpled up the paper towel and began to walk towards the trash can. Towards me. I was about to be caught, outed and shamed. I closed my eyes and rolled myself into the fetal position, almost unwilling to believe that things could have turned so disastrous so quickly. _How could this happen? _

"No, really Mil, I'll be fin---," Pansy stopped in the middle of her sentence.

Terrified, I open my eyes and glanced upwards. Pansy was staring at me in shock, her eyes wide and her mouth agape.

I did the only thing I could. I looked up at her, eyes pleading, and silently mouthed _please_. But she still stood there, just staring at me with her wide eyes, seemingly unable to believe I was real.

"What's that?" Millicent asked, while simultaneously flushing the toilet and opening her stall. Now beyond terrified, I stared into Pansy's eyes once more and mouthed _please _again. Millicent's words seemed to spring her into action, and she whirled around.

"Oh, uhh, nothing," she stammered. She brought her hand behind her back and motioned for me to go down towards the floor.

I heard the faucet turn off as Millicent finished washing her hands, and the sound of the paper towel dispenser being used.

Millicent's footsteps came closer, and I heard her crumpling up her towel as Pansy had done. Pansy stood between Millicent and me, blocking me out from her field of vision.

"Hey, uh…ummm, you don't want to use this trash can," Pansy stammered again.

"Huh? Why not?"

"Uh … there's sick all over it. Some girl must have had too much butterbeer to drink," she said before adding, "It's disgusting."

"Oh, okay. Probably the little Weasely brat, huh? Well, alright...let's go."

Pansy stood still. "Actually, you go ahead, I'm not feeling so well myself. I'll see you in Transfiguration class, okay?"

"Uhh, okay. Are you sure you're okay, Pans? You're not going to hurt yourself, are you?" Millicent stepped closer, to the point where I could see the top of her head peeking over Pansy's shoulders.

"Don't be silly, I've just got some stomach problems is all. You probably don't want to stick around to hear me prove that, either." From my close proximity I could hear her voice slightly quiver. She was as scared as I was.

That seemed to convince Millicent, and she walked away and exited the bathroom.

I began to slowly stand up from the floor. Pansy turned around to face me.

* * *

Her eyes were still wide. 

"Wha—what are you doing here?" she whispered quietly, "Why were you hiding?"

I opened my mouth to explain but quickly realized that explaining my convoluted logic was impossible. So instead, I just blurted out the first thought that crossed my mind.

"I was waiting for you."

I saw Pansy's face tighten for a moment, and I noticed that her hands were both rolled into fists.

"I was waiting for you to come out of Snape's class," I continued, "Because…well, because…"

Pansy closed her eyes. "Because what?" she whispered.

"Because," I took a deep breath. This was the moment. "I wanted to tell you how sorry I am for how I behaved yesterday, and that if you want to be my friend then I want to be yours, too. Everything you said about this…this, Slytherin and Gryffindor thing, you were completely right. It doesn't matter what other people think, and—and if I hurt you because of what I said, I'm really really sorry."

I saw the corner of Pansy's mouth twitch and her eyes open slowly.

"Are you sure that's why you came? That it wasn't because of...of...Harry...," she trailed off.

I didn't understand what she meant, but I knew what I meant.

"Yes," I replied forcefully. "I've been racked with guilt since yesterday."

That seemed to calm her.

"Okay," she said, breaking into a slight smile. "Okay, I accept your apology. Hermione." I'm sure the irony of me giving her essentially the same speech she had given me yesterday, in the same bathroom no less, didn't go unnoticed.

In the corner of my eye, I saw her bring up her right hand over her left wrist and squeeze with her fingers. She was pinching herself. _Pinching herself! _I couldn't believe it.

We sort of just stood there, looking at each other for a few moments. Then Pansy began to grin widely and chuckled to herself, shaking her head.

"Can you imagine what Draco and Harry would think? Me and you, having a secret rendezvous in the bathroom? I'd like to see their faces."

I laughed. "Yeah…I'm sure they'd agree we were both traitors, probably the first thing they'd ever agree on."

Pansy smiled, like a huge load had been taken off her shoulders. She looked at me again, her eyes quickly turning mischievous.

"Of course," she flashed a wicked grin, "It wouldn't be as funny as Millicent's face, if she had seen you hiding behind that trash bin."

I attempted to grin, but instead began to blush.

She took a step closer to me. "I mean…honestly Granger," she teased, "what sort of girl hides out in a bathroom in order to meet another one?" Another step closer. "Why, it positively screams scandal."

I was now blushing badly. I glanced up at Pansy. She had that famous grin back on her face, testimony that she had regained her confidence. It was truly amazing how quickly she had gotten it back, as just a minute ago she had been sullen and depressed. Now she was back to being herself.

I was determined not to let her fluster me as she had done in earlier meetings, and I opened my mouth to bravely reply, when I heard a commotion from the hallway. Pansy turned around and walked to the door.

"Ah, third period's over," she sighed disappointingly. She looked coyly back at me and playfully teased. "Pity, it was just getting interesting too."

Hearing the sounds of students in the hallways grow louder and realizing we only had a few more moments in private, she quickly walked back to me, her tone becoming serious.

"Do you have any plans for this weekend? Where do you normally go?"

I looked back at her, confused. Plans for the weekend? Hogwarts was always dead during the weekends.

"Uhh, this weekend? Well on weekends I normally just hang out and do homew…oh" I stopped suddenly, as I realized what she meant.

Seeing comprehension in my face, she smiled and nodded.

"Hogsmeade."


	6. Holiday in Hogsmeade Pt1

Disclaimer: Hey, I'm back! And in the interim, I haven't managed to acquire ownership of Harry Potter. So it's still not mine.

Summary: Hermione and Pansy rendezvous in the charmingly named hamlet of Hogsmeade.

A/N: Sorry about the delay. I'm afraid I won't be able to publish as frequently as I did over the summer, as now I have to worry about school, athletics, the SAT, friendships and all sorts of delicious drama. Thank you to everyone who reviewed (all 22 of you, I'm amazed)! I hope this next chapter doesn't disappoint, and again, I'm sorry it took so long. I'm not terribly familiar with the layout of Hogsmeade or much else, so if anything is non-canon in this chapter, please forgive me. Anyway, thanks, and please review!

* * *

I glanced at the letter once more before folding it up and putting it in my bookbag. I had already memorized it by heart, of course, in fact that was the first thing I had done when I received it. But it felt good and reassuring to see the familiar handwriting scrawled out on parchment. 

_Hermione_

_Hogsmeade, Saturday, okay? Going to be quite a bit of trouble going down I hear, but it just so happens I know a nice secluded place where we won't be bothered. Sound good? The next building past Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, you know where that is? The next building is an empty old clothing shop, Sinclair's. There is a basement door in the back, it'll be unlocked, and the basement is a pleasant and quiet place. I have something I want to show you. Owl back. _

Perhaps initially overwhelmed with excitement, I owled her back immediately, with an effusive affirmative reply. Of course, typical of myself, as soon as I saw my owl fly out towards the Slytherin wing of Hogwarts, I began having doubts.

Everyone was expecting some sort of trouble in Hogsmeade this weekend. The prefects were on high alert and there had even been talk of canceling the whole weekend. Harry had emerged from the hospital, with some residual scarring from the hex, and his group was clearly out for revenge. He and Ron weren't about to be deterred by a couple pushy prefects.

"Be careful in Hogsmeade, Hermione. Stay away from around The Three Broomsticks. I don't want you to get involved in…well, in whatever happens," he had told me grimly. Behind him, a determined Seamus had nodded solemnly. Yeah, they were out for revenge, and it probably wasn't in the form of a Zonko's prank.

Stay away from Broomsticks? Sinclair's, where we were supposed to meet, was directly across the street from The Three Broomsticks. The idea of a Slytherin and a Gryffindor meeting in some basement while a street brawl between Slytherins and Gryffindors took place right outside was almost too absurd to be true.

And then…it was just going to be us two, alone, in a basement together. _Where we won't be bothered. _ My heart fluttered at the very thought, a cocktail of unknown proportions of both excitement and terror. We'd finally have a chance to talk, to really talk, without anything interfering. And we'd have a chance to…do other stuff. I mean, if we wanted to, that is. If we both agreed on it and…you know. It could be really magical, no pun intended.

"Hey Hermione?" I glanced up to see Parvati standing next to me. I was supposed to be spending the day with her and Padma, something I'd have to weasel out of in order to meet up with Pansy.

"Hi Par," I managed a smile.

"Excited about Hogsmeade?"

I nodded.

"Got anything big planned?"

"Umm, not really."

* * *

Parvati wasn't buying it. She had stopped walking, put her hands on her hips and cocked her head. 

"So wait, why do you have to go back to Hogwarts again?"

"Uhh well, I forgot my purse back in my room, and I'm going need my money to buy some extra quills."

Parvati's face scrunched up. "Since when do you carry a purse to Hogsmeade? Besides, if you need money I can let you borrow it, it's much easier than trekking all the way back to Hogwarts."

Padma piped in. "Yeah, it's not a good idea to be walking around by yourself anyway, with all that Slytherin stuff going on."

I shook my head. This was the stupid excuse I had come up with, and I was sticking to it.

"No, it's not a problem. Harry showed me a quick shortcut through Honeydukes, I'll be back before you know it." I gave an assuring smile. "Seriously, don't worry."

I could tell they still weren't convinced, but their doubts weren't going to make me keep Pansy waiting. I branched off towards Honeydukes.

"I'll see you guys soon." As I said my goodbyes, a disturbing thought popped into my head. "Oh yeah, if I don't come back, don't bother looking for me. I probably just stayed back at Hogwarts."

I turned and quickened my step towards Honeydukes, until the second they walked out of the line of sight. Then I cut back to the main path, accidentally bumping into some young Hufflepuffs, and headed towards the forest that surrounded Hogsmeade. Padma was right, walking around Hogsmeade by myself probably wasn't a good idea. So I was going to take the long way.

No doubt looking like some wannabe commando, I crouched down and sprinted across the snow towards the tree line. Aware of the rumors of werewolves inhabiting the forest, I made my way along the trees very carefully, until I had circled around Hogsmeade and was staring at the row of buildings that contained Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, and more importantly, the old clothing shop Sinclair's where I was supposed to meet Pansy.

I gazed around. This particular part of Hogsmeade was hardly popular with visiting Hogwarts students, and I didn't see anyone else. Just to be safe, I put the hood of my cloak up as I walked towards Sinclair's. I kept my eyes and ears open for Pansy, but to no avail.

But as I neared Sinclair's, I began to hear the soft sound of feet sloshing through snow behind me. I checked around and still saw nothing. As I passed into the shadow of Scrivenshaft's I heard it again, growing closer and more pronounced. I whirled around to find nothing, but when I turned back around there were two boys standing where they had not been just seconds prior, and there was a wand pointed right at my face.

"Scream for help, and it'll be the last thing you ever do, Slytherin," came the familiar voice. My eyes followed the wand down the arm to its owner's pale face and ginger red hair. Oh god.

I attempted to speak, but was told to shut up by another familiar voice to my side.

"We'll decide when you speak, Slytherin. Now tell us, what are you doing sneaking around here? What exactly was your bunch planning today? Going to ambush us behind Zonko's, was it?"

This was just absurd. I brought my hands up to bring down the hood of my cloak, but Ron twitched his wand as a warning.

"Just answer the question."

I sighed, my initial fear now replaced by intense irritation.

"Yes, we were planning to ambush you behind Zonko's, and then we were planning on stealing your dad's car and crashing it into Hogwarts again as a finale," I replied sarcastically.

Recognizing my voice, Ron and Harry put down their wands, and I removed my hood.

"Bloody hell Hermione, I could have blasted you!" exclaimed a shocked Ron.

Harry was more suspicious. With his forehead furrowed, he stroked his chin. "Hermione, what in bloody hell were you doing walking alone and hooded in this part of Hogsmeade? Don't you know what's going to happen today? Didn't I tell you specifically to avoid this part of Hogsmeade?"

Ron eyed me curiously as well, waiting for my response.

"Uh well, I was going back to Hogwarts because my purse…well I needed it to buy quills and all, and uhh…" I began to use the excuse I had given Parvati and Padma, before quickly realizing it made no sense. On the fly, I came up with something better, my mind finally performing well under pressure.

"Actually, I was worried about you two. Worried about all of you, to be honest. I don't want to see you guys getting hurt."

The suspicious looks on their faces were replaced with ones of annoyance. Ron even rolled his eyes.

"God, you snuck all the way over here just to tell us to be careful? Ugh." Harry was less than amused.

"Yeah, we're not kids anymore, 'Mione. We can take care of ourselves, it's the Slytherins you should be worried about."

I continued to play my part. "Yes but think about the consequences---"

Harry cut me off. "Okay, look, if this is all you have to say, then we don't have the time to hear it. We have things planned, okay? Don't worry." He began to walk away, donning his invisibility cloak.

Ron looked at me. "This was really stupid, to sneak over here by yourself. You think you can get back to the main path without getting in trouble?"

I nodded, and he nodded back, before heading off squeeze underneath Harry's cloak.

I let out a sigh of relief as I watched them leave. Taking extra precaution this time, I inched forward towards the side entrance of Sinclair's. Just like Pansy said, there was a basement door in the back, down a small flight of stairs. I wondered if Pansy was already inside. Descending down the stairs, I reached the door, and began to turn the knob when I felt something breathe on the back of my neck.

"That was pretty impressive, Granger."

* * *

Again, I whirled around, but instead of finding a wand in my face, I found…nothing. 

"P----P---Pansy?" I whispered.

With abrupt suddenness, she appeared, sitting on the stairs, looking down at me with mussed-up hair and a bemused expression. Only the top part of her body was visible, the rest, I realized, was covered by an invisibility cloak.

God, I really needed to get one of those.

Seeing my startled expression, she laughed. Nodding towards her cloak, she explained, "Got it for my 12th birthday. Followed you the whole way."

"You did?" I replied. That explained the footsteps I had kept hearing behind me.

She nodded and grinned. "You looked so silly running through the forest, like you were some sort of soldier. But that lie you told Harry and Ron was pretty good. I was worried for a minute, I thought I'd have to intervene to help you out, and that probably wouldn't have gone over well."

I could imagine. "No, it wouldn't have."

We were still for a second, me just standing there and her just sitting there, looking at each other, until she broke up the awkwardness by rising to her feet and walking up to the basement door.

Cracking the door open, she beckoned, "Well, no point in wasting time, is there? Come on, I want to show you this place."

I followed her in. Obviously, the idea of meeting in the basement of an abandoned building had not garnered any high expectations, so I was pleasant surprised to find the basement nicer than I would expect. Two massive bookshelves dominated the room, and a well worn couch and table were placed between them. There were boxes of rubbish in the corner, but on the whole, it was all pretty nice.

Pansy was obviously happy. "Isn't it nice? Don't you think its nice, Hermione?"

I was confused. "Yeah, but how? Didn't you say this building is abandoned?"

Her smile grew even wider. "It is."

"Then who maintains all this?"

"I do." She said it with a great deal of pride.

I must have still looked confused, so she explained further.

"I come here everytime we go to Hogwarts. I also sneak out here sometimes on weekends, which is where the cloak comes in handy."

"But why?"

Her smile transformed into a somewhat mischievous grin. "Ah, that's what I wanted to show you." She beckoned me to follow her as she walked towards the wall on the far side of basement.

"You see, I found this basement accidentally when I was 11, while we were playing hide and seek. I was looking for Millicent, and I thought I heard a noise or something. Anyway, this part of the basement was pretty dusty and messy, and I would have never stayed and come back except, well, I found something else," she explained. She reached the far side of the wall and tapped it with her wand. A door appeared, and she muttered an incantation to magically unlock it.

"The stuff inside this room all may seem pretty normal to you, but you can imagine what it was like for me when I was only 11, especially given my upbringing."

I was now even more puzzled. She opened the door and invited me to go in first. This second room was fantastically well maintained, with a fine wooden desk and spotless carpet. It was obvious Pansy had put a lot of effort into it. The room was very narrow but also dominated by shelves of stuff, shelves that held something else instead of books. I moved closer to see what they were holding, and gasped.

Video tapes. And records. And compact discs. All meticulously organized. And then Pansy moved towards the end of the room, and cast a spell with her wand, and a cabinet appeared. It held an old heavy TV, with a VCR sitting on top of it. Next to it was a stereo. This was a room full of muggle things!

She moved beside me. "Do you see? THIS is what I wanted to show you."

I was speechless. "But, but…this is all muggle stuff!"

"Yes, it is."

"How?"

She shrugged. "It was all here when I found it. Old Sinclair was probably a Muggle enthusiast or something."

"But why?"

She looked confused. "Why what?"

"Why would you do all this? Clean it up and organize it and hide it and everything."

She shook her head. "Don't you see? I saved all this stuff, because, you know, I _like _it." She gave out a brief, bitter laugh. "Can you imagine, me, a Slytherin, with my family, liking this kind of stuff? I almost don't believe it myself."

"You like it? Muggle stuff?"

She nodded. "Yeah, the movies, the music and the books. The books outside are all Muggle ones. I, you know, I just really found it all very interesting." She was speaking defensively.

I was still in shock. I had read this girl's diary for a week, and still hadn't the slightest inkling of this. "Who else have you shown this to?"

"Ha! Just you, of course. Who else could I show this to? Draco? Millicent? My parents? Only if I had a death wish."

I took a deep breath, as this all began to make sense. "Pansy, why did you want to show this to me?"

Her face became serious. She stared me straight in the eyes and put her hand on my shoulder. "I wanted you to know who I was. I'm not really, you know, the girl who was so mean to you for so long. It's just that when you come from my family and are placed in Slytherin, you have to behave a certain way."

This sounded familiar. She had mentioned something similar in a diary entry.

"And I know I've told you this before, but I just really wanted to show you, so you could really see who I am. All that stuff about blood and everything, I could care less. I'm not like the other Slytherins." She put her other hand on my other shoulder and sighed. "I really, really like muggle things, and I really, really like…umm," her eyes were locked with mine---I had forgotten how green they were, "I really like uhh…" she sighed again softly, scanning my face for a sign before finally just going ahead, "…you."

Outside, I could hear a prefect began to yell. But inside, it was all Pansy.


End file.
